Confessions on a Sticky Note
by MyDeceptiveSmile
Summary: Dear Ryan, I demand immediate retribution for the psychological scarring I suffered this morning when I nearly swallowed my toothbrush. If I hadn't been thinking about you again, I wouldn't have put hair gel on my toothbrush. Ryan/OC
1. Chapter 1

The Miami sun was hot, set high in the sky; but that didn't deter the inhabitants from being outside. Because of the weather, the country club's pool was especially busy, from the Cabanas to the bar. One Cabana, in particular, was causing quite a stir. There was a girl, about five foot four in height, staring down (or more appropriately, _up_) a girl about five foot nine in height.

The taller of the two was wearing a bikini that just barely grazed the line between a suitable bathing suit, and two scraps of material that happened to get caught in a breeze and hit her body. She was on the bigger side, favoring the curves in her chest. With a hand attached firmly to her hip, she did her best to look intimidating. Unfortunately for her, her counterpart didn't give a _damn_. "Zahara Madison, you are the biggest fake that ever walked the planet."

The smaller girl, Zahara, pointed to herself, wide-eyed at the exclamation. Then she snorted, completely unperturbed by the statement. _She _wasn't the one with silicone breasts, so she found it her duty to even the score. Standing up, she pushed the other girl back. She stumbled over her (unneeded) stilettos, nearly hitting her head off the cabana umbrella. "At least _my_ breasts aren't made of _silicone_."

Outraged shrieks were emitted from the other woman, her spandex material stretching to cover her private places. Although the word 'private' remains to be seen. "You bitch!" Although Zahara had seen the vicious name-calling coming, she hadn't quite been able to predict the tackle that followed. The two girls landed on the chair under the cabana, as a crowd gathered around the umbrella.

"Sienna, you're _crazy_!" Zahara said through clenched teeth, as she tried to hold back her attacker.

Sienna's hair was long, and it was obstructing Zahara's vision. So, doing the only thing she thought of, she kneed Sienna in the stomach. Sienna convulsed immediately, letting her grip slacken on Zahara's wrists. To quickly take control of the situation, Zahara then pushed Sienna off her and stood up.

Sensing that the confrontation was over, the crowd dispersed leaving Sienna and Zahara to glare at each other from across the lounge chair. "I'm going to kill whoever took your Stelazine," Zahara breathed out, still in a defensive stance.

Sienna quickly gathered herself, standing up from her spot on the floor. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.

Zahara pouted, making sure that her mocking undertone was clearly evident. "I wouldn't expect you to know your own schizophrenic medicine. Only you're evil twin, Sara, would know about it."

Sienna's eyes darkened, as she took another dive at Zahara. The latter, however, had learned quickly and was able to dodge it. "Your silicone must be weighing you down, because my dead grandmother moves faster than you!"

A growl passed Sienna's lips, as she stood, turned, and lunged once more. Zahara was like a giddy little girl, prancing and dancing out of the grasp of Sienna's multiple attack attempts. "You'll never catch me!" she would sing each time.

And each time, it would just anger Sienna more. However, on the last attempt, Zahara was dangerously close to the pool edge, and on her latest elusive dance, she slipped backwards. Grabbing onto Sienna, the two women were cascading into the warm pool water. Neither of them seemed fazed by the interruption, as Sienna grabbed onto Zahara's hair.

"What the _fuck_!" Zahara cried in response to the pulling on her scalp.

When Sienna didn't let go, Zahara scratched Sienna hard enough on the neck to draw blood. "You're so fucking crazy!" Zahara seethed as Sienna released her hair with a howl. Making a fist, Zahara swung madly at Sienna's face.

The onlookers that had once again gathered made a collective gasp at the cracking sound of Sienna's nose. The pain in Zahara's knuckles was noticeable, by the look on her face and the way she shook her hand and then clutched it against her chest.

In this time, Sienna made a grasp for Zahara with one hand – the other hand cradling her bleeding nose – and managed to scrape the skin off Zahara's arm. Now, not only was Zahara's hand swelling, her arm had claw-like scratches running up it.

Whispers around the pool rose in volume, as Sienna floated face down in the pool. Zahara scoffed, pushing her brown hair around from her face. The part of her that wanted to survive this catfight told her not to get too close, in case Sienna suddenly sprung up and mauled her.

But as seconds passed without so much as an air bubble from Sienna, people began to grow anxious. Even Zahara, who had grown up with her theatrics, knew that something wasn't right. She carefully waded her way through the once clear water, now mixed with Sienna's blood, and poked the blonde in the shoulder. The body simply dipped at the movement, but she didn't move. In fact, with the help of a pool attendant who jumped in the pool, the two rolled her over to see her lifeless blue eyes staring upwards; a bullet wound right through her forehead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

"Hey," Ryan said in greeting to Natalia.

She was surprised, and the look registered on her face. "Ryan, we were called about an hour ago. Where were you?"

"Nowhere. What do we have here?" His tone was dismissive, and he was quick to change the subject.

"Well, the victim was Sienna Thompson, a shot to the head."

Ryan nodded, crouching down to Natalia's level. "What do you have?"

"Blood droplets, away from the pool," she responded, swabbing the slightly viscous liquid, "I think it might just belong to the girl over there, though. She caused quite a commotion – I think she broke the victim's nose."

Ryan looked up at Natalia's flippant tone, trying to find the girl in question. Not soon after, did his eyes land on a petite brunette standing off to the other side of the pool. A uniformed officer was standing beside her, but she was turned away with a petulant look on her face. "The brunette?"

Natalia was busy taking pictures of the blood droplet trail to notice the girl, or Ryan. "Yeah. She's Zahara Madison, and from what I've heard she's a likely suspect for the shooting."

Ryan nodded, already on his way over to her. "Zahara Madison?" he called when he neared her. The brunette in question turned to look at him, her green eyes smoldering. She was unimpressed with her entire environment - that much was evident. Ryan took a survey of her – her lip had some dried blood on it, and she kept touching her arm where four long scratch marks sat.

"I'm Ryan Wolfe with the Crime Lab. What happened?"

Zahara caught him looking at her arm. "Bitch scratched me when I punched her," she replied defensively, dropping both arms to her sides.

"Why did you punch her?"

"She was pulling my hair out! She was so psychotic."

Ryan remained calm, but he couldn't help one eyebrow from raising. "Was she on medication?"

Zahara shrugged, a sense of apathy washing over her. "Honestly, I have no idea. A couple of days ago I found a bottle of Stelazine with her name on it – I don't know if she actually took them though." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking past Ryan's shoulder to the random police personnel walking about. In a dry tone she added: "although it would explain a lot."

Ryan shifted the weight on his feet, crossing his own arms across his chest. His head was lowered, but only because he was unconsciously trying to copy the height of the woman before him. "Why is that?"

She gingerly touched her lip, and Ryan watched the movement carefully. "She head butted me, Mr. Wolfe. She had issues."

"You punched her – it's kind of a double edged-sword."

Zahara laughed loudly, posing with her hand on her hip. "She had it coming, Mr. Wolfe. Ask anyone: Sienna was an annoyingly spoilt brat who made more enemies than friends."

"Is there anyone in _particular_ you can think of?"

"Besides me?"

When Ryan didn't even so much as bat an eyelash, Zahara sighed melodramatically. "Mr. Wolfe, do I look like I'm capable of killing someone?"

"You don't have to be particularly skilled to pull a trigger."

It was all Zahara could do to stop herself from smirking when Ryan Wolfe left.

***

Snapping a pair of latex gloves on, Natalia met Ryan in the morgue. "Okay Tara, what do we have?"

Tara looked up from her inspection to smile at Natalia. "Well, Sienna was a little worse for wear. Besides the bullet wound in her forehead, she had a broken nose, a large scratch on her neck, and a bruise began to form in her abdomen. "

"Is all this ante mortem?" Natalia asked.

Tara nodded. "I told you; she took quite a beating. Cause of death: the bullet penetrated the skull, struck the brain, and she bled internally."

"That confirms the story about what happened between Sienna and Zahara," Ryan put in, staring at Sienna. Then he looked at Tara. "Do you have a bullet for us?"

Tara looked at him, playfully offended. "Ryan, I'm surprised you even have to ask!"

She then handed them the extracted bullet. Natalia was the one who received it. "It looks like a .22," she mused.

Just then, Ryan's phone rang. "Really?" he said, sending Natalia a look after hearing the information he was being given. "Thanks."

He flipped his phone shut, his eyes still on Natalia. "It seems Sienna had a restraining order against Zahara Madison."

***

Zahara Madison liked taking hot showers. She liked the way all her muscles relaxed, and the way she felt so completely spotless after the water scalded her skin. She was in the middle of towel drying her hair when her doorbell rang. She quickly shed her towel and put a t-shirt and shorts over the undergarments she had been wearing under the towel. The doorbell rang again before she got to the door. Needless to say she was pleasantly surprised when she found CSI Wolfe on the other end.

"Mr. Wolfe," she smiled, trying not to be surprised, "what are you doing here?"

"Were you going to tell anyone that Sienna had a restraining order against you?"

Suddenly Zahara's demeanor shifted, and she was standing defensively between Ryan and her house. "It was all a misunderstanding."

"See," Ryan sighed, almost sarcastically, "what I've found is that it's hardly a misunderstanding."

Zahara eyed him, moving forward to close her door behind her. Her eyes darkened, and she found herself standing on the step above him, as if to make herself seem bigger. "Don't you judge me, Mr. Wolfe. If you've come here to ask me questions, ask. Don't interrogate me with a preconceived notion of who I am or what happened. Yes, I beat the shit out of Sienna, but I didn't shoot her. She bugged the _hell_ out of me, and as much as I'd rather be eaten by a swarm of killer bees than be nice to her, she didn't deserve to die." And as an afterthought, she added softly, "no one deserves to have something so precious taken from them like that."

Neither one of them spoke, but Ryan was far from done. "If she took a restraining order out on you, why were you at the same place as her?"

So she had something to do with her hands, Zahara began to run her fingers through her slowly drying hair. "Hell if I should know. I was there first. You can check, since you need to swipe a key to get into the pool area."

Ryan nodded, making a mental note to get those records. "So why does she have a restraining order on you?"

Zahara frowned. "Am I under arrest?"

Instantly Ryan became suspicious. "No."

"Do you have a signed order from a judge compelling me to tell you?"

"No."

Zahara backed up, opening her door as she went. "Then get the hell off my property or I'm letting my dog out."

And with that, she slammed the door shut, successfully cutting off anything Ryan was going to say.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03**

Zahara kicked the stuffed rabbit across her bedroom. The little red heart that was clutched in its paws began to hum a soft valentine melody, and it only stirred Zahara on more.

There was a picture on the nightstand beside her bed, and she grabbed it. In a fit of rage, she threw it against the opposing wall. The glass shattered, the sound registering high in her ear. Her anger was pliable, and nothing movable in her home was safe from her wrath. Particularly in her bedroom, where nothing lay untouched. A lamp was broken on the floor, clothes lying everywhere but in the closet.

The picture that was in the previously shattered frame was now clutched in her grip. The once glossy surface was now crumpled and white, from where her fingers dug in; and the two people staring up at her, faces happier than they had been in a long time, made her scream.

A whining sound met her ears from the bedroom door, but Zahara didn't look up. A puppy that was barely seven months old looked on, sensing Zahara's inner desperately unhappy disposition, but not knowing what to do. The animal paced at the door, its bandaged ears not able to swivel instinctually.

The pain Zahara felt inside was boiling over, and she didn't know what else to do. When she threw something, felt in break beneath her, she felt better for only a second. The times in between were what really got her.

When she had upturned her living room, the picture still clutched in her hand, she heard a tentative voice coming from the front door. "Zahara? Are you alright sweetheart?" It was her kind neighbour, Lacey Leary. Lacey was an older woman, the perfect picture of a grandmother. She was on the shorter side, rounding with age, and kind wrinkles around her mouth and eyes.

"Go away!" Zahara yelled, tears springing to her eyes. Her throat felt raw from screaming, and a slamming sensation overloaded her head.

Her door was kicked in, then, and two uniformed officers quickly dispersed into her house. Her on slot of anger faltered when Ryan once again stood in her doorway. He entered, uninvited, and advanced on Zahara. "Why are you here _again_?" Zahara yelled desperately, her voice no longer holding it's raw screaming tint.

"What happened Zahara?" he asked, moving quicker.

"You _can't_ be the only CSI!" She cried out, tears blinding her vision.

She put her arms out in front of her, thinking she was warding him off from approaching. As he holstered his gun, Ryan slowed.

She dropped her arms, the picture floating down to the ground. Ryan noticed, but didn't move to take it. "What happened here?" he tried again.

By this point Zahara was hysterical. "She's _dead_!" She screamed, "She isn't coming back!"

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Is this about Sienna?"

Zahara quieted down, watching Ryan reproachfully. Her tears still clung to her eyelashes, weighing them down and gathering at her bottom eyelid. "She was my best friend and she took out a restraining order on me," she choked on her words, swallowing multiple times to calm herself down.

Each time she blinked, a new tear would fall down her cheek. The running liquid made her cheeks shine, but she didn't feel the least bit attractive.

Before she could stop herself, and before he could carefully elude her, she was in his arms, burying her head in his chest. The worst part, he found himself noticing, is that he just completely incriminated himself by hugging her back.

***

"You did _what_?" Eric Delko asked, eyes shining with amusement.

"I just –"

Eric was once again in an uproar of laughter, not letting Ryan finish. Ryan fumed from his seat in the AV lab, looking out the Plexiglas wall. Eric, on the other hand, was leaning against the table casually, his arms folded across his chest.

"Is she cute?" Eric suddenly asked; his eyes still planted firmly on the side of Ryan's head.

"Is she _what_?" Ryan replied defensively, his eyes snapping over to Eric. The speed of Ryan's action didn't go unnoticed by Eric. The movement only fueled the laughter behind Eric's brown eyes, which in turn only aggravated Ryan more. "No she is not c –" but then he caught himself, thinking about Zahara.

She was short, almost child-like in her proportions. She was incredibly slender, and he was silently ashamed that when he first met her, she was in her bikini and he did unintentionally give her a once over.

Ryan snapped out of his reverie, to find Eric on the verge of taunting him again. Immediately he jumped up, ready to defend himself. "Shut up Delko."

"So you do find her attractive."

"That isn't what I said."

"That isn't what you didn't say either."

"What?"

Eric put his hands up defensively, trying not to laugh. He took a step back to put space between himself and his colleague, but he still felt the urge to taunt him. "Face it Wolfe, you've got it bad for your suspect."

Without thinking, he said, "Zahara didn't do it."

"You're on a first name basis?"

"What the fuck is your problem Delko? She lost her best, of whom took a restraining order out on her, by the way; and she was hysterical by the time I got there. She hugged me, and I didn't want to push her away, alright?"

"Yeah, because you're warm for her form."

"Where do you get this stuff from?" Ryan asked, caught off guard by Eric's statement.

"Call it a gift."

As Eric was about to leave, Ryan got the last word in: "Let's see what Calleigh calls it."

Eric's smile was genuine, as he shook his head while mumbling curse words at Ryan.

Ryan huffed, his frustration playing on his face. He did _not_ have a _thing_ for Zahara Madison.

"Officer Wolfe?" A timid voice asked from the door. Ryan spun around on the chair, but found himself frozen in his chair. Zahara continued to move her bangs over to one side, her hands shaking.

"What happened?" He asked, suddenly on his feet.

She flinched back, allowing Ryan to leave the AV lab. She was looking at a spot on the floor, the crumpled picture now in a ball. "I really didn't hate her," she whispered, looking up at him. Her eyes were soft around the edges, her green eyes large and bright with unshed tears.

She held a picture out, and he accepted it only once he had his latex gloves on. It was ripped down the center with scotch tape running along the tear. An edge was missing, while the other three were doggie-eared terribly. "Her boyfriend beat her, and I called him on it. Kicked him in the crotch." She smiled weakly, but then bit her lip so she wouldn't cry. "She of course took his side, telling me I didn't know what I was talking about."

She looked at the ceiling, and then back at Ryan. Ryan kept silent, never taking his eyes off her. "Oliver, her boyfriend, tried to hit me like he hit her, but once I split his lip he called me a crazy bitch. He convinced Sienna to get a restraining order on me, on the basis that I was dangerous." She laughed bitterly. "I'm not dangerous – I just defend myself! How did –"

Ryan's phone rang, then, and he put a finger up to signal her silence.

"Hey Ryan," Natalia said from the other side, "I've done some checking with Sienna's family, and apparently her boyfriend had a little bit of an anger problem." When Natalia said that, Ryan immediately looked at Zahara. She just tilted her head to the side, questioning.

Ryan decided to take a step back, and lowered his voice. "Yeah, he's the reason Sienna took out a restraining order on Zahara."

Zahara watched Ryan, his back turned to her. The picture she had given him dangled, forgotten, in his left hand, while his right hand clutched at his phone. He had lowered his voice so she wasn't exactly sure what he was saying, but Oliver's name had come up once, as well as hers and Sienna's. Whoever he was talking to, it must've been about the case.

Ryan nodded a couple of times, about to bid farewell to the other person, when someone shouted at them from down the hall.

"Hey you stupid bitch! You fucking killed my girlfriend!"

Automatically Zahara backed up, surprised that Oliver had found her. She was numbly aware of Ryan speaking: "Hey Natalia, don't worry about it. I think I found him." His phone was back in his pocket before anyone could blink, and he stood between Oliver and Zahara.

Oliver Taylor was by no means a big man in the sense that he was fat, but he was well over six feet tall. He was slender to the point of it being off-putting, so it must've been his personality that drew Sienna to him. Zahara snorted without a second thought. Personality _indeed_.

"You need to calm down," Ryan instructed him, pushing against his chest. Ryan was shorter than Oliver by a few inches, but Ryan had the muscle Oliver didn't.

Oliver twisted his head to sneer at Ryan, but his quickly moved back to the girl huddled behind Ryan. "I want this bitch arrested! She violated the restraining order!"

Ryan was about to reprimand Oliver for his degrogetory comments directed at Zahara, but latter beat him to the punch. "That _you_ tricked her into getting!" She accused hotly, standing her ground at Ryan's side. Oliver released the tension in his shoulders, stepping back from the two of them.

"I didn't trick her into _anything_. You're fucking crazy."

Zahara's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she sharply sucked in a breath. "Listen you self-absorbed little prick. I was only looking out for Sienna – shame I can't say the same about you." She sneered, giving him a once over.

He didn't reply, so Zahara took that as a sign that she had spoken too fast and confused him. She turned, feeling superior. She had made it about ten feet when Oliver's voice shocked her. "Yeah, I could definitely tell by the way you beat the shit out of her yesterday."

The knee-jerk reaction for Zahara was to charge Oliver, and unfortunately for her, the rational part of her brain didn't tell her to stop. She made it a hair length's past Ryan before he grabbed her to hold her back.

She tried to wriggle herself free, but Ryan only tightened his grip on her. The look on Oliver's face was unnerving: smiling like he had just cured cancer. "You fucking asshole!" Zahara yelled, pulling at Ryan's grasp for freedom.

He didn't release her, much less loosen his grip. Oliver was just out of arm's reach, and the more frenzied squirming Zahara did, the louder he laughed.

"Get him away from here!" Ryan yelled, looking at various cops in the building.

One rushed forward, grabbing Oliver by the arm and pulling him away. As he disappeared further down the hall, still laughing at Zahara, she pulled even harder against Ryan.

"Let me go!" She yelled, debating digging her nails into Ryan's arms. The reason for her urgent anger returned, and she abandoned her previous idea. "You have to let me go!"

"He's gone, and you need to stop," Ryan told her.

Her anger flared again, but she stopped trying to pull free. She turned to Ryan, and he took note of how her eyes darkened to a grey tint. "He wasn't there!" She yelled, gesturing wildly at the hall behind her. "How did he know I beat her up if he wasn't there?"

A look of recognition dawned on Ryan's face, and he finally released Zahara. "He _shot_ Sienna, Ryan."


End file.
